Senate Republicans push alternative jobs bill

Counterproposal to Obama plan seeks health care repeal, tax overhaul

KATHLEEN HENNESSEY Tribune Washington Burea, Times Union

By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY Tribune Washington Bureau

Published 12:01 am, Friday, October 14, 2011

WASHINGTON - OCTOBER 13: (L-R) U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), and U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) arrive for a news conference on Capitol Hill to introduce a Republican jobs proposal to compete with that put forward by President Obama on October 13, 2011 in Washington, DC. The legislation targets the tax code, spending, and regulation in an attempt to grow the private sector. (Photo by Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON -- A group of Senate Republicans on Thursday unveiled a plan they said would spur hiring and revive the flagging economy, the latest sign that President Barack Obama's full-throated attacks over jobs may be leaving wounds.

The new bill was outlined by a cross-section of lawmakers and was notable not for its fresh policy approach, but for its clear admission that the party feared losing the rhetorical fight over job creation.

Republican leaders in the Senate have for months put the onus on the White House to outline and sell a strategy for economic recovery -- and then blasted the President and his fellow Democrats for not pushing a bill that could win bipartisan support.

GOP lawmakers have offered a raft of proposals but have resisted presenting them as a single bill that could be evaluated, attacked and -- likely -- killed in the politically divided Congress.

But restlessness with that approach is clearly growing. Obama has been touring the country promoting his jobs bill and repeatedly calling on Congress to "pass the bill." After slow-walking the vote, Senate Democrats brought up a version of the legislation this week. It was blocked by Republicans, resulting in headlines that seem to have accelerated the new strategy.

"We just thought it was time to put this all into a package. I will freely admit to you that part of it is in response to the President saying we don't have a proposal," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. McCain led the effort to write the legislation along with Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.

"From the Republican point of view, this is a breakthrough," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., another supporter of the bill. "We have to be for something."

The bill is something of a greatest hits of Republican economic proposals.

It calls for repeal of the new health care law, a balanced budget amendment, expansion of off-shore oil drilling and a tax overhaul that lowers rates and eliminates corporate loopholes.

Paul said the bill would create 5 million new jobs -- although he did not offer a specific time frame.

On Thursday, the Republican senators sought to distinguish their approach from the President's, saying it would create jobs by addressing structural problems in the economy, rather than aiming for immediate job growth through government spending.

"This is a pro-growth proposal to create the environment for jobs, and that's as opposed to the short-term sweetener approach of the Obama administration that simply hasn't worked," Portman said.

Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., quickly blasted the Senate proposal as "a political fig leaf that would likely add to the deficit while doing nothing to create jobs."

A Washington Post/ABC poll released last week found that the President had a 15 percentage-point advantage over congressional Republicans when it comes to the public's trust in creating jobs. In September, the two were evenly split at 40 percent each.

Numbers like that could spell disaster for lawmakers in tough races across the country next year; it's one reason the senators were far from alone in wanting to fight back with a stronger punch. McCain said "all but a handful" of Senate Republicans had signed on to the bill.